Boyfriend convicted in assault that killed 1-year-old boy

A 24-year-old East Compton man was convicted  Monday in the beating death of his girlfriend's 13-month-old son, according to Los Angeles County prosecutors.

The jury deliberated less than a day before finding Rodrigo Hernandez guilty of the second-degree murder of Smith Fernando Garcia Rodriguez Jr., according to a news release from the district attorney's office.  Hernandez was also found guilty of assault on a child causing death. 

Hernandez lived with the boy's mother and other children in an apartment in the 14900 block of South Atlantic Avenue in East Compton. Hernandez was accused of striking the toddler multiple times on June 7, 2015, while his mother was in another room.

Family members told the mother that the boy was acting strangely, and when she went to him, he began having seizures. By the time paramedics arrived, bruises were already visible on his body, Los Angeles County Sheriff's investigators reported. 

The boy was taken to the hospital, where he remained until his death on June 25. During the trial, a coroner's official testified that the child died from blunt force trauma to his abdomen. 

Hernandez is scheduled to be sentenced on May 11 in Department 4 of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Compton Branch. He faces a maximum possible sentence of 25 years to life. 

Contact the Homicide Report. Follow @latimeshomicide on Twitter.